Carter Roberts
Carter Roberts (born 1966) is an American retired professional basketball player, and Senate candidate. Roberts spent his NBA career as a point point guard for the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs. Playing from 1988 to 2005, Roberts was an eight-time All-Star, three-time NBA champion, single-season assists record holder, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and is widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all time. After moving between coaching positions post-retirement, Roberts was eventually hired as a Professor of Economics at Yale University. Roberts also serves as the assistant coach for the Yale Bulldogs men's basketball team. In late 2016, Roberts entered politics, declaring his intent to run in the Republican primary for the special election in Connecticut to replace former Senator Buck Havich, who had resigned to serve as Vice President. Roberts would win election in a three-way race between himself, Ambassador Sadan Singh, and Mayor Carter Schmidt with 37.4% of the vote. Early life and Education Carter Roberts was born in 1966 in Hartford, Connecticut. A strong student academically scoring among the top of his class academically through elementary school, Roberts had his first experience with basketball after his graduation, when he tried out for, and successfully joined his high school's team. While not towering in height, Roberts proved an exemplary talent at point guard, posting nation-leading totals in assists while leading his team's high-scoring offense, putting up an average of twelve assists per game over his career, along with putting up a solid eighteen points per game of scoring on his own. Collegiate Career An impressive prospect on his graduation, Roberts accepted an academic scholarship to Yale University, turning down scholarships from more competitive Division I schools to attend a university not considered a basketball power. Yale had not made it to the NCAA tournament since 1962, and four years removed from their last winning season, with a dismal 7-19 record the year before. Roberts's arrival and slotting into the starting spot at point guard would help to spark a swift turnaround. The Bulldogs posted a winning record in Roberts's freshman year, and continued to steadily improve around their new lynchpin. In the 1987-1988 season, the Bulldogs put up the best record in the Ivy Group, and made the NCAA tournament, taking the Group's automatic bid. Yale, holding the 15th seed, would face off against powerhouse North Carolina, but managed a stunning upset in Salt Lake City, then proceeded to defeat Loyola Marymount to press their Cinderella story, making it to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in the bracket's modern history. There, however, ninth-ranked Michigan proved too much to handle, with the Wolverine's Gary Grant matching up against Roberts, and conference scoring champion Glen Rice putting the team over the top. It would be the last game of Roberts's career at Yale. NBA Draft While Roberts had not yet completed his degree, he declared for that year's 1988 NBA draft with the intention of leaving Yale. Predicted as an early first-round pick, Roberts fell to twenty-fourth before being selected by the Boston Celtics in the shortened selection process. His height, officially listed as five feet, eleven inches, was seen as a possible concern for earlier-drafting teams, though the point guard's later success would prove the decision to pass him over a regretful one. Leaving Yale, Roberts traveled the short distance to join the team, signing onto a contract with the Celtics. NBA Career Roberts started his NBA career as an understudy to Dennis Johnson, the Celtic's veteran five-year point guard, and a top-ten player in assists, but thirty-three years old. Roberts took what minutes he could coming off the bench, and performed well, as Johnson declined, and was granted the starting role entering the 1989-1990 season. With opportunity now in hand, Roberts did not disappoint, working to manage the Celtics offense, feeding the ball to Larry Bird and Kevin McHale as the Celtics improved their record by ten games, taking the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, but falling to the New York Knicks in five games in the first round of the playoffs. Roberts's next year would arguably be his best, as he emerged as a fully dominant presence on the court. Only twenty-five years old, he shattered the NBA record for assists in a single season, a record that still stands. Roberts was selected to his first All-Star game as the Celtics won the Atlantic Division behind the Bird-McHale-Roberts trio that would come to be called "White Lightning", the two veterans alongside the hustling new point guard. Victorious in the first round, the Celtics failed to overcome the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons in the conference semifinals. As the aging Bird began to struggle with a nagging back injury, missing half the season's games, Roberts helped to pick up the slack, continuing at his new level of performance, leading the NBA in assists once again, exceeding 1,100 assists for the second time, one of the top-five seasons for assists in NBA history, and playing in his second All-Star game, as the Celtics took the Eastern Conference's second seed, but lost home-court advantage when facing the Cavaliers in the second round. The series went the distance, but in Game Seven, what would prove to be Bird's last, and thus the last for White Lightning, Boston fell just short. Roberts would, along with Bird, be selected for the 1992 United States men's basketball team, also known as the "Dream Team" for its collection of Hall of Fame stars, and received a gold medal, as the team dominated its competition. Roberts continued to roll through the next season despite the loss of Bird, leading the league in assists and making the All-Star team for the third consecutive season, even as McHale began to fade as well. The end of White Lightning was not without effect on Roberts, as his numbers decreased from historic on an all-time level to simply exemplary, dropping below 1,000 assists after two seasons above 1,100, ending the year with one of the top 15 assists seasons of all time, after the first and fourth best ever the two years before. The Celtics dropped below fifty wins and finished second in the Atlantic Division, and were eliminated by the Charlotte Hornets in the first round of the playoffs. Roberts entered into the 1993-1994 season without either if his two Hall of Fame teammates for the first time, and while Roberts started the season well, he faded badly down the stretch moving into the new year, as the Celtics bore little resemblance to their former selves, finishing well below .500 and missing the playoffs. Approaching thirty years of age, Roberts served as the Celtics's floor leader of a changed team, but lacked the talent around him to bring the team to a winning level. In a season with a number of Eastern teams falling well below mediocrity, the Celtics managed to barely slip into the playoffs, a game ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks, despite winning only thirty-five games, and were taken down by the Orlando Magic in four games in the first round. Roberts would remain with the Celtics for one more season, but after again finishing far out of sight of .500 in his contract year, would depart the team seeking greener pastures. While courted by both the Celtics and the nearby New York Knicks, Roberts struck out for the bigger payday, signing a contract with the San Antonio Spurs, a much more successful team than his Celtics, at the time on a stretch of seven consecutive playoff seasons, five of which were fifty-five win seasons. Roberts would make the Olympic team for a second time over the offseason, and won a second gold medal alongside the American squad. Roberts would travel from Atlanta to San Antonio to prepare to take his place on what was predicted to be a potential championship team. Training camp, however, saw Roberts suffer a serious high ankle sprain. Roberts attempted to play through the injury, but was a day-to-day questionable, and of little worth when on the court, putting up career-low assists numbers, and becoming a serious liability on defense. After missing thirty-eight of the first sixty games of the season, Roberts finally elected to sit out the remainder of the season on the advice of team doctors, as the Spurs, having been depleted by injuries across the roster, with both David Robertson and Chuck Pearson missing nearly the entirety of the season, posted the worst record in their franchise history, nowhere near to the playoffs. A small consolation for Roberts was that the Celtics, absent their longtime point guard, had done even worse, winning a paltry fifteen games. What the record did give the Spurs, however, were solid odds in the NBA draft lottery, the "Tim Duncan sweepstakes", and with the balls bouncing their way to give them the first pick in the draft over the Celtics, they selected the highly touted forward with the first pick. A now-healthy Roberts and Duncan immediately meshed well, and, combining with a stellar season from veteran David Robinson and strong performances from a number of new free agent acquisitions, the Spurs remarkably nearly managed to flip their record, making the playoffs and advancing to the conference semifinals before losing to the eventual Western champion Utah Jazz. The next season was slow in starting due to an owner's lockout, but after a slow start, the Spurs, behind big men Duncan and Robinson in the frontcourt and the 5-11 Roberts in the back, dominated the fifty-game schedule, tearing through the Western conference playoffs with a sweep of the Lakers and winning four of five over the Trailblazers, reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in the team's history. With the retirement of Micheal Jordan and the end of the Chicago Bulls dynasty the Spurs faced the underdog Knicks for the title, and dispatched them in five games, giving Roberts his first ring. Returning to a full-season schedule, the Spurs were not quite as dominant entering the new millennium, taking the Western Conference's fourth seed, but Roberts and his Twin Towers were upset by the Phoenix Suns in four games, leading to an early exit from the playoffs. The team came back with a vengeance, as a late surge by Roberts contributed to a 33-9 finish on the next season and the West's first seed, followed by decisive victories in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Facing off against Los Angeles, however, the Lakers avenged the previous matchup of the two teams two seasons earlier, and swept the Spurs. Roberts celebrated his thirty-fifth birthday prior to the start of the 2001-2002 season, one of the oldest active starters in the NBA at the time, and two years older than Dennis Johnson had been when Roberts was selected as the Celtics's future passer. Perhaps anticipating a coming retirement or a need for a replacement, the Spurs drafted point guard Tony Parker in the first round of that year's draft. Roberts retained the starting role, but would split time with Parker, as the team once again turned in a strong regular-season performance, Duncan, partially by the teamwork of Roberts, winning NBA MVP, but were unable to break past the Lakers in the playoffs. 2002-2003 was the first season for the Spurs in their new arena, and the last for David Robinson, their longtime center. Aided by the addition of new shooting guard Manu Ginobili, alongside their always-dominant frontcourt and the platoon effort at point guard, the Spurs finished with the best record in basketball and the number one seed in the West, only the second sixty-win season in franchise history. The playoffs saw Roberts and the Spurs finally put down the Lakers, and after defeating the Dallas Mavericks in the Conference championships, win a second ring. Despite the departure of Robinson, the veteran Roberts adapted the offense to the loss of the longtime stalwart, and the Spurs continued their winning performances, though slipping slightly to the third seed. Roberts's rivalry with the L.A. Lakers would come to the forefront again in a playoff matchup, but the Los Angeles got the better of San Antonio. Despite the disappointing postseason loss, or perhaps as a result of it, Roberts staved off retirement and returned to San Antonio for the 2004-2005 season once again. With the new scoring combination of Duncan and Ginobili clicking, and Parker available off the bench, the Spurs started the season strong, and continued through, taking the second seed in the conference behind the surprising breakout team of the Phoenix Suns. The Spurs beat the Nuggets and SuperSonics to advance to the Western Conference finals, The Suns were favored, behind the leadership of MVP Steve Nash, but Roberts outplayed the rival point guard, as the Spurs won the first three games of the series before taking it in five. The 2005 NBA Finals would prove to be the last games of Roberts's career. Facing the Detroit Pistons, a team that had bounced Roberts's Celtics from the playoffs a full decade and a half earlier, the Spurs looked poised for victory, winning each of the first two games easily by double-digit margins, but the Pistons pushed back for a decisive win in Game Three. The highlight of the game, despite the Pistons win, proved to be a play from Roberts, as the thirty-nine year-old point guard pulled off a no-look, behind-the-back pass to Tim Duncan to set up a score, a play that made highlight reels on sports networks across the country. The next game was a blowout, the Spurs going down by over thirty points, but Game Five was a battle, the Spurs taking a narrow one-point overtime win, then losing Game Six to bring the series to a decisive final game, in San Antonio. With the score tied going into the final quarter, Roberts kept control of the floor and helped the Spurs put in the points to pull away, clinching his third title. After the season, nearing forty, Roberts announced his retirement. Playing Style and Legacy Roberts was renowned as a point guard, especially in his years with the Celtics, for his hustle, earning the nickname "Go-Cart" for his on-court demeanor. An excellent passer, Roberts holds two of the top five all-time seasons for assists, including the highest-assist season in NBA history, and displayed an ability to make trick or show passes, including no-look dishes and behind-the-back flings. Defensively, Roberts was a valued player, skilled at making steals and, despite his lack of height, a fairly effective blocker for his position. Throughout his career, Roberts was noted for his durability and toughness, playing point guard for a lengthy sixteen-year career, and often playing through injuries, continuing to do so into his late forties despite a series of ankle sprains. An eight-time All-Star, four-time assists leader, single-season assists record holder and 3-time Finals champion, Roberts is widely considered to be one of the greatest point guards of all time. Post-Playing Career Following his retirement from the NBA, Roberts entered into coaching, though with little stability, moving between several positions at the professional and collegiate level. Roberts would step back from basketball several years later, and during this time Carter finished his master's degree in economics at Yale. He accepted a position as an adjunct Professor of Economics at Yale University, while working part-time as an assistant coach for the school's basketball team. Political Career Public notice of Roberts on a political level rose in 2016, when the player created a politically charged post on Facebook that would receive over one-half million "shares". Some effort was put into a "Draft Carter Roberts" movement, and the former player would eventually announce his candidacy for the 2017 United States Senate Special Election in Connecticut. Roberts was spotted in attendance with President-Elect Calvin Reed at a Washington Wizards-San Antonio Spurs game in Washington D.C., sparking earlier rumors of connection and potential endorsement, though the President would not select a favorite in the race. Early polls showed significantly higher name recognition for Roberts over either of his two main opponents, Representative William Brennan and businessman Jaffson Ruger, and saw him holding a significant plurality lead. Roberts participated in the first debate for the Connecticut race, considered a heated and contentious affair, but was widely considered to have performed reasonably well, particularly given his lack of experience in the area, and maintained a double-digit polling lead, though trailed Brennan among registered Republicans. While missing some time on the campaign trail due to an ankle injury sustained in the Hawaii Charity Marathon, Roberts would begin to accrue support from established Republicans for his campaign, receiving a series of endorsements from Governor Gerald Drumpf, Representatives Amelia Yang and Anna Rossi, and Senate Majority Whip María Antonieta Arroyo Villanueva de Peña. Brennan, Roberts's main opponent, would drop out of the race in early February, leaving Roberts considered as the strong favorite for the nomination. Roberts would receive a mix of praise and criticism for controversial comments made on the announcement of collegiate athlete Denice Blake, born, and having played as, a biological male, of transitioning from male to female, and intending to play in the WNBA. Roberts declared an intent to pass legislation to prevent biological males from "ruining" women's sports by "calling themselves transgender", as well as affirming the Blake was "fooling themself" and to "look in the mirror." After a brief lull in his campaign, Roberts announced a "marathon" of campaign stops moving forward from late February into early March, planning eighteen appearances in a two-week span. Roberts received further endorsements from Representatives Glen Anderson and Atticus Marlowe, and Governor Thaddeus Stevens, as well as the National Institute for Conservative Change, and endorsed Anderson in his own run for Governor of Pennsylvania. Roberts would participate in a one-on-one debate between himself and Ambassador Singh in May, and was generally polled as the loser of the debate, though the outcome was considered close. Roberts would win election to the Senate with a plurality victory of 37.4%, over Singh's 33.1% and Schmidt's 26.9%, following a significantly remarked-on last-minute speech by Vice President Buck Havich, in which he did not endorse any candidate, but urged Connecticut voters not to elect Singh. Personal Life Roberts married high school sweetheart Kara Roberts in 1990, and has two sons. Roberts is considered to be a devout Roman Catholic. Category:Republican Category:Athletes